First Trust Advisors LP Has $3.94 Million Stock Holdings in Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU)

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its stake in shares of Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE:BTU - Free Report) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 188,044 shares of the coal producer's stock after selling 92,821 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.15% of Peabody Energy worth $3,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BTU. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Peabody Energy by 144.2% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 327,601 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $6,860,000 after buying an additional 7,586 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Peabody Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,889,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Peabody Energy by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 43,766 shares of the coal producer's stock worth $916,000 after acquiring an additional 5,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Peabody Energy by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 57,800 shares of the coal producer's stock valued at $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 19,800 shares during the last quarter. 87.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BTU shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Peabody Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Peabody Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Peabody Energy Trading Up 9.9 %

NYSE:BTU traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $14.86. 10,858,476 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,319,927. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.49. Peabody Energy Co. has a one year low of $9.61 and a one year high of $29.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The coal producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.20. Peabody Energy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 8.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Peabody Energy Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peabody Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Peabody Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.11%.

Peabody Energy Profile

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in coal mining business in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, India, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, France, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal, Seaborne Metallurgical, Powder River Basin, Other U.S.